


Boys Are Stupid

by QueermoDelToro



Series: Fun & Games [2]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Ableist Language, Banter, Bisexual Eleven | Jane Hopper, Bisexual Female Character, Canon Compliant, Canon Compliant up to Season 3, Eleven | Jane Hopper & Maxine "Max" Mayfield Friendship, F/F, Feelings Realization, Feelings are revealed, Friendship, Gen, Good Friend Robin Buckley, Maxine "Max" Mayfield is a Good Friend, Mild Language, Party Games, Pre-Relationship, Revelations, Robin Buckley & Maxine "Max" Mayfield Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:21:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22738708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueermoDelToro/pseuds/QueermoDelToro
Summary: Max and El rehash the whole "Kiss, Marry, Kill" debacle.Or...Kiss, Marry, Kill Redux!
Relationships: Eleven | Jane Hopper & Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Eleven | Jane Hopper/Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Robin Buckley & Eleven | Jane Hopper, Robin Buckley & Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Robin Buckley & The Party
Series: Fun & Games [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1634968
Comments: 4
Kudos: 85





	Boys Are Stupid

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BookGirlFan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BookGirlFan/gifts).



> Thank you all sosososoSO much for the outpouring of love i received on Kiss, Marry, Kill. All of you who read/commented/liked have my everlasting gratitude! As someone who struggles heartily between my desire and ability to write, I never imagined my silly little fic would receive so much positive feedback.
> 
> I wrote this one because BookGirlFan wanted to know what Max and El had to say about the whole KMK matter. Although written as a companion to that piece, you don't need to read it to understand what's going on here. This took on a little bit of a life of its own and ended up a little more serious than originally intended, but i hope you all enjoy it!

"I can't believe all the boys wanted to marry Steve." Max flung herself onto her bed. "I thought Mike was going to have a stroke!"

Jonathan drove Max and El to Max's place after _Friday the 13th: A New Beginning_ ended, even though it resulted in a five minute argument between Jonathan and Steve about who had dibs.

Joyce's one stipulation for allowing Will and El to travel back to Hawkins after a boisterous Thanksgiving dinner at the Byers' new home in Indianapolis was that El sleep at Max's. Will was staying at Mike's and Jonathan at Hopper's cabin (aka sneaking into Nancy's bedroom once the Wheelers were asleep.) Joyce, having picked up a shift at the department store for Black Friday, wasn't going to be home anyway. It was only fair she relented when the kids all begged to spend just ONE MORE DAY together. 

In the end, Jonathan won the argument because ultimately El was his responsibility. And even though Steve was the next best thing - even though Steve would protect the girls with his life - Jonathan made a promise.

El curled into Max's desk chair, all gangly legs and spaghetti arms. "What is a stroke?"

"It's like your brain shorts out and forgets how to tell your body to work."

"I hope Mike doesn't have a stroke."

Max didn't mean to laugh at El's pained expression but the sound bubbled out of her without permission. Max was glad she chose that idiom over the favored "have a cow" because she didn't even know how to BEGIN explaining that one to El. "Don't worry. It usually only happens to old people."

El seemed pacified by that reassurance but stayed quiet. Max watched as she stared at a spot on the headboard, eyebrows furrowed. It looked like El was trying to piece a puzzle together with the way she chewed her lip. Max prepared herself. El was often quiet when she had something big on her mind.

After several minutes, El finally spoke.

"I didn't know...boys could marry boys."

"Well…" Max sat up. Oh yeah, this was REALLY big. If she was going to be the one teaching El about these things, she had to get it right. She didn't want to screw this up. "They can't, but it's okay if they want to."

"Why can't they get married if that's what they want?"

Max felt like these questions were too big for her, too bulky to wrap her arms around and too heavy to lift. It wasn't El's fault she didn't always understand the way the world worked, but Max wished there was someone else to explain this.

"Why don't we call Robin?"

-

Five minutes later, the two girls were huddled together on Max's bed with the receiver between their ears and Robin on the line. El posed her question without so much as a "hello" or "how are you."

Luckily Robin was used to El's unceremonious nature and rolled with it. "Because there are people in this world who don't know how to mind their own damn business." Max felt about a hundred times lighter having someone else with more experience tackle the issue. "Also Christianity is rampant in this Suckfest of a country but, you know, mostly shitty people. Why are we talking about this right now?"

Max explained how the conversation came to fruition.

"You're telling me that every single boy in that room would choose to marry Steve over Will?" The amazement in Robin's voice was uncanny. She was nearly scoffing, disbelief verging on indignation. "Man, boys are STUPID. What did you two say?"

The two girls looked to each other with wide eyes. After the whole Steve debacle, or Steve Gate as Robin later dubbed it, the girls decided backing out of the game altogether was the best option lest they start up yet ANOTHER argument.

Now, though? With Robin? They both felt as though they could answer honestly. No fear of judgement, no expectations, no pressure.

Max piped up first.

"I would DEFINITELY kill Mike. Sorry, El, but he's kind of a skeezeball sometimes. I don't know if I'd rather kiss or marry Lucas. We've already kissed and I like it but it might be fun to marry him and practice kissing on Steve."

"I hate to say this but for once I am agreeing with the Wheeler boy. Steve is a sweet guy but I am disturbed that none of you want to kill him. Hell, _I_ want to kill him every single day of my life and he's, like, my best friend." Robin coughed to hide her affection. "Don't tell him I told you that. He's got a big enough ego as it is and that one will go straight to his hair. What about you, El?"

El blushed as though she'd been caught doing something wildly inappropriate.

"I would kill Steve," El admitted, looking down at the floor to avoid Max's inquizitive eyebrows. She felt guilty just thinking it. Steve was an amazing guy in her opinion. It was just that El couldn't imagine her life without the rest of The Party. "I think I would marry Mike, because I love him and when you love someone that's what you do. And I would kiss..." El's eyes shined and her cheeks pinked like she'd been standing in the sun too long. Her voice asked a question that begged to be answered without knowing how.

"What? Who would you kiss?" There was so much anticipation in the room Max felt her skin prickle. She didn't know where the tension was coming from. It felt like El herself was vibrating. "Is it Lucas? It's okay, you know. All the boys wanted to kiss Lucas too. It doesn't bother me. Actually, it makes me proud that he only wants to kiss me."

El groaned and covered her face with her hands as Max prodded her with an elbow.

"I would kiss…"

The rest of El's answer was spoken in a whisper too quiet for the other girls to hear. Both Robin and Max piqued their ears but the only sound they could make out was "ew."

"Speak up, woman!" Robin cried. "I'm on my toes here!"

"It's okay, El. We're not gonna laugh at you."

El took a deep breath and looked at Max out of the corner of her eye. "Do you promise?"

"Of course!"

"As long as it's not, like, my dad."

El nodded and took another deep breath, silencing the question in her throat. A calm fell over the room. The puzzle she'd been trying to piece together earlier in the night finally fell into place across her face.

"You, Max. I want to kiss you."


End file.
